Loaded .38 Found in Carry-on at Airport Named After Gunslinger Portrayer John Wayne

A loaded .38 caliber handgun was plucked out of the security line at John Wayne Airport last week but don't worry, there was no round in the chamber, according to the TSA.

That made it one of nine loaded firearms found in TSA lines at the nation's airports last week. There were also 31 unloaded guns, multiple stun guns and ninja stars, 10 inert/replica/novelty grenades and knives of all shapes and sizes seized at U.S. airports last week, the TSA reports.

Separate recoveries last week uncovered a Zelda Sword and propane tanks in carry-ons at Oakland International, while across the Bay at the San Francisco airport someone tried to bring 10 vacuum sealed bags of marijuana onto a plane, giving new meaning to getting high.

For those who don't know, you can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. Keep in mind that firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers are urged to familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure.

Meanwhile, the TSA notes that each time an agent finds a dangerous item, the line is slowed down and a passenger who likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. Penalties can reach as high as $11,000.

Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before "graduating" to OC Weekly in 1995 as the paper's first calendar editor. He has contributed as a freelance editor and writer to several publications and been the subject of or featured in several reports online, in print and on the radio and television. One of countless times he returned to his Costa Mesa, CA, home with a bounty of awards from a journalism competition, his wife told him to take out the trash.